(Portland, OR) – Meanwhile, growth remains soft for Widmer Brothers and Redhook brands…

Overall, Q1 shipments were up 19,200 barrels or 15% from Q1 in 2010. I’m not terribly interested in the financials so this post focuses on production and brand growth…

Kona Brewing is the big story here. The brand grew 50% up to 37,100 barrels in the first quarter from a year ago and continues to outperform its previous quarters.

Contract production increased by 3,500 barrels in the first quarter as CBA’s Goose Island contract kicked into gear. As noted in previous earnings reports, that contract is expected to account for 25,000 to 30,000 barrels annually over the next three years.

Widmer Brothers and Redhook’s re-branding efforts and new product lines began at the start of Q2 so we have yet to see how those initiatives will pay off.

For Q1, Redhook may appear to have bounced back with a 5% production uptick but that comes off of Q1 2010 production that sank 18% off of Q1 2009. The brewery still has a ways to go to get production back up to the levels of prior years but it is a positive trend. I quipped earlier this year that the Kona brand may pass Redhook in the coming years in sales but there is a good shot of that happening as early as this year if Kona keeps up its torrid pace.

Widmer Brothers reported quarterly growth for the first time in a while. The brewery had produced more in each of its 2009 quarters than it did in 2010. That said, growth still lags craft peers of the same size at a tepid 2% increase from Q1 2010.